It is with great pleasure that we announce the addition of two new colleagues to TIRF’s Board of Trustees! Dr. Deena Boraie and Dr. Polina Vinogradova have both been unanimously selected to serve three-year terms alongside their new Board colleagues.

Dr. Deena Boraie is the Vice President for Student Life at the American University in Cairo (AUC) and a member of the university’s senior leadership group. She provides leadership, vision, and strategic direction for the student-life area. Deena has three decades of experience in higher education administration and leadership, teaching, and research. Prior to moving to the Student Life office, Deena worked for 10 years in AUC’s School of Continuing Education, where she served as Dean for five years and Associate Dean for five years.

Deena is Past President (she served as President from 2013-2014) of the TESOL International Association. She has published and presented extensively at international conferences on issues of assessment literacy, language testing and assessment, teacher beliefs, student and teacher motivation, teacher professional development and effectiveness, and English as a lingua franca.

Deena holds a PhD in Education (language testing) from the University of Wolverhampton in the UK and an MA in TEFL from AUC. She is a language testing expert and an assessment and evaluation consultant and trainer with extensive experience working with education projects and organizations in Egypt and the region. She is currently the Senior Advisor to Egypt’s Minister of Education for issues of assessment, examinations, and curriculum.

Commenting on becoming a Board member, Deena stated, “I am very honored to be asked to join TIRF as a Trustee. I have spent years working in English language education in a renowned American university in the Middle East. Over the years, I have developed great organization skills and experience in strategic planning and development which I can now leverage to support TIRF. I aspire to make a meaningful impact on a cause that is truly close to my heart – to enhance English language research and education worldwide.”

She continued, “On a personal level, as a Trustee, this is an opportunity for me to be able to connect with friends, colleagues, and illustrious leaders in TESOL, working together to further TIRF’s mission. I will be able to apply my skills and experience working in a multicultural environment with TESOL professionals from all over the world.

Dr. Polina Vinogradova is Hurst Senior Professorial Lecturer and TESOL Program Director in the Department of World Languages and Cultures at American University (Washington, DC, USA). Her research focuses on the use of digital stories in English language education and on post-method pedagogy and advocacy in TESOL. Most recently, she has been studying the role of a pedagogy of multiliteracies in TESOL candidates’ empowerment. She is a co-editor (with TIRF Trustee Joan Kang Shin) of Contemporary Foundations for Teaching English as an Additional Language: Pedagogical Approaches and Classroom Applications (Routledge, 2021) and has published her award-winning work in notable edited volumes and academic journals.

Polina has worked with English language teachers and learners from around the world and contributed to the TESOL International Association and its affiliate, WATESOL, in various leadership roles. She holds a PhD in Language, Literacy, and Culture from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and has MA degrees in TESOL from the University of Northern Iowa and in Intercultural Communication from UMBC. Her undergraduate degree is in Chemistry and TESOL from Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia (St. Petersburg, Russia).

Polina said, “Serving as a TIRF Trustee is a great honor for me.” She added, “As a 2008 recipient of the Russell N. Campbell Doctoral Dissertation Award, I’ve been always grateful for the recognition of my work and financial support that enabled me to further learn from TESOL colleagues and share my research. For a young scholar, this was an incredible recognition and boost of confidence that impacted my career. Now, I greatly appreciate this opportunity to serve TIRF as a Trustee, to support and encourage young scholars who will be defining and further developing the field of TESOL for years to come.”

Please join the TIRF community in welcoming both Deena and Polina to the Foundation’s Board of Trustees!